My guest for this episode is Maureen Wiley Clough. Maureen is the host of It Gets Late Early, a podcast and community of tech employees bringing awareness to the issues facing experienced workers and striving to create a better working world for all.

I’ve talked about the issue of ageism in the tech industry before. I faced it myself a few times, and I witnessed discriminatory behavior during my decades-long career (e.g., during job interviews). I wrote a post on LinkedIn about embracing aging, which is how I met Maureen and got invited to her podcast. So, now she has returned the favor and joined me for this episode to talk about her mission to shine a light on ageism and find a better way to move forward in the working world as we all grow older.

About Maureen

Maureen built a successful career in tech. But as she looked around the Zoom room at her last early-stage startup, she was struck by the fact that the number of people over 40 were slim to none.

When she realized she had observed a similar demographic makeup in her past roles at more mature organizations, she began to wonder about her ability to chart her own course in this sector for as long as she wanted - or needed - to be employed. She also recognized that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs had not focused on the issue of age, the one “ism” coming for all of us (and that’s if we’re lucky).

So, she set out to start conversations with her peers and conduct research to understand reality and build towards a better, more inclusive future for all - no matter what your age.

We talk about

* When Maureen first encountered ageism in her career

* Why she started her podcast “It Gets Late Early”

* How ageism will affect all of us (if you’re lucky to live long enough)

* How age discrimination negatively impacts corporations

* The unexpected ways ageism creeps into recruiting, hiring, and promotion practices

* Why return-to-office hurts parents and older workers

* What you can do to be better prepared as you advance in your career

* How Maureen can help companies improve their recruiting practices, hiring policies, organizational policies, and more to help find and nurture great talent, regardless of age

Scroll up and hit play to listen to our full conversation.

Where to find Maureen

* It Gets Late Early (website, podcast episodes, and newsletter)

* LinkedIn

* Instagram

* Threads

I’m Larry Cornett, a Freedom Coach who works with you to optimize your career, business, and life. My mission is to help you become a more "Invincible You" so you can live your life on your terms instead of being controlled by someone else's rules. I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and our Great Dane.